Since our Pug is out of warranty, I've decided to do some minor modification to it... Nothing fancy as this is my queen daily ride and it need to be as comfortable and original as it can... Don't think I can use the modification word here as I'm merely changing the original parts to some aftermarket one... First thing to go is the restrictive air filter... Normally I don't do drop in (usually go with open pod for the extra oomph and not forgetting nicer intake sound!!!) but in order to make the car looks as original as it can, this is the only route to go... Off goes the original paper air filter and in goes the 'K&N'... 

Second thing that needs to be replace is the spark plugs... The factory fitted spark plug on the 'Pug' is 'NGK Platinum' series... Instead of Platinum, I opt for Iridium spark plug which is a tad better.... Initial feel after replacing these parts is actually quite promising... The car is definitely smoother and pulls a little harder especially at night... Even my queen realize about it... She told me the car is more powerful after replacing these parts... These aftermarket parts is definitely worth your dough if the time is up for changing it as these parts need replacement sooner or later... Next item that need replacement is the absorber... Custom 'Titan' adjustable or 'Bilstein B14'??? Probably go for 'Titan' as all my other car using it and I'm really happy with it... Till then...

I've decided to create a new labels for my blog... Previously, I will put all my '308 Turbo' update under 'Car Freak' which is a general label for all things related to cars... So just like what I did to 'FrankenBenz', I'm creating a dedicated label just for my '308 Turbo' and I name the label as 'Woeful 308 Turbo'!!! I'm sure most '308 Turbo' owner out there will agree to this label...

I really like the '308 Turbo' when it is behaving nicely... But the problem is, throwing tantrum is what it's good at!!! And quite frankly, it is driving me up the wall sometimes... It is a nice drive but maintaining it is a pain in the ass!!! 

Recently I got a special gift from it... Throwing two error code simultaneously!!! The dreaded 'Depollution System Error' is back after fixing it some time back... Last time the error code pop up because of a faulty turbocharger... This time round I'm still not too sure what causes it... Another error code is the infamous 'Gearbox Faulty' code which almost all '308 Turbo' owner with 'AL4' gearbox will get... Luckily with the error code on, I'm still able to drive it... Just that it restrict the gear to 3 only instead of 4 forward gears... 

Send my car to the workshop and after 1 week, it is finally fix... But what is the main problem remain a mystery!!! The mechanic change two of the solenoid in the gearbox and the problem still exist (the solenoid is the most common problem that causes gearbox faulty error in the 'AL4' gearbox... so normally mechanic will change these two solenoid first before doing anything else)... But after changing these two solenoids, the car will sometimes show the error code... So the mechanic decided to unplug all the wiring loom and rewired it back together and also cleaning the throttle body (which I'm not sure why he does that)... After doing all these, the car is back to normal... Even the 'Depollution System Error' code is missing!!! So if you ask me what is the main culprit for these two error code, I really can't tell you... Even my mechanic is puzzled by it... But deep down, I'm very sure the code will reappear again... Is inevitable... Is just a matter of when!!!

Is almost 4 years since we bought the 'Pug' and we have our high and low with it... Frankly speaking, problems are inevitable... I think every 'Pug' owner will agree with me on this... There are a few common problems that almost all '308 Turbo' owner that I know of got it... Namely the famous 'Depollution System Error'!!! This is a horrifying error because it does not specify on a specific error... It can mean anything and mine is a malfunction turbo while a lot of my friends having trouble with the timing chain...

If your car is the older model that came with the 'AL4' four speed gearbox then beware as this gearbox is famous for throwing tantrum!!! I got my first experience when I drove her up 'Genting'... And now she will throw tantrum occasionally when she sees fit... The problem with the gearbox is it refuse to shift to second gear smoothly and it can be nerve wreaking sometimes!!! Since our car is long over warranty, we will need to wait and see the situation as getting it fix is not cheap... After asking around, it seems like there are 2 solenoids that are giving this problem and changing them will apparently solve this problem... I'm no mechanic but sometimes I'm wondering whether is it the weather that causes this... So I'm actually thinking of fitting a 'ATF' cooler if it doesn't come with one or changing it to a bigger one if our 'Pug' already have it... 

Some update on our beloved 'Pug'... Two days ago, our 'Pug' is officially out of warranty coverage!!! Isn't it fast that our 'Pug' is already three years old... And it is officially not a virgin anymore when it comes to 'Genting'!!! I drove it up this morning but too bad the condition is not ideal as it was raining cats and dogs... So I tone down my driving a little bit but I'm really impressed at the grip that it produced (tyres play an important role as well)... Really confident with the way it handles... Definitely much more powerful when compared to my ex-daily driver which is none other than my trustee 'Proton Gen2 MME Edition'... Although much more powerful, the thrill or driving it compare to my 'Gen2' is like night and day difference!!! 'Gen2' is so much nicer in terms of handling!!! So what about comparing it to 'FrankenBenz'??? Frankly the 'Pug' feels super slow now!!! The last time I drove 'FrankenBenz' up 'Genting', I'm using only one gear... Gear three all the way up!!! Although much more powerful, I don't find it entertaining as well as 'FrankenBenz' is way too heavy for this kind of driving... 

Since the warranty coverage is over, I must take extra care on our 'Pug' starting from now... And you know what, it decided to give me a heart attack moment this morning when I drove it up 'Genting'... I'm using the tiptronic all the way up changing gears manually... When I was about to reach 'Genting', the gearbox decided to go in neutral but the display says that it was in gear three!!! Step on the accelerator and the car's not moving... Shifted it back to auto and still it won't move until I heard a loud 'clunk' sound (my heart almost stop moving), and 'Pug' was moving again!!! I can't imagine what might happen if I really abuse it this morning... Luckily it was raining and hopefully no damages done to the gearbox!!!

I believe I'm really unfortunate when it comes to motoring life as I'm always plagued with different kind of problems... This was definitely not the first time I've experienced a cracked windscreen... In fact, this would be my fourth time since I started driving...

It started with a tiny spot right beside the 'AMD' sticker... My darling don't really remember when she got hit on the windscreen but we decided to get it repair after having breakfast... And you know what happened after our breakfast???

It started to cracked almost half the length of the windscreen!!! We got a shocked of our life when we saw it... So off we go searching for a windscreen repairer urgently... We managed to find one called 'Dr Cermin' located in 'Setapak'... When they saw our windscreen, their first thing they told us was the windscreen need to be replace... No point repairing it as the cracked was way too long...

But we decided to repair anyway as our insurance coverage was not enough to replace a third party one let alone original... Third party one cost around RM1200 and original one cost around RM3000!!! We were going to wait till we renew our windscreen insurance and pay more premium for the windscreen so that we are able to change to a original one... That was the plan...

They obliged to our request but they won't guaranteed that it would work as the cracked was really too long to begin with... We decided to gamble with it and give the go ahead...

They started by drilling a tiny hole at the end of the crack... The reason they did this was because they were going to inject the sealant in through the tiny hole so that the sealant will flow along the crack and seal it... That's the objective...

 Applying sealant...

 The tools for making this work... 

After applying the sealant, the crack area was covered with a thin piece of plastic and drying process began...

 After a while, they started peeling off the plastic cover...

The end result!!! Still managed to see the crack nearer to the 'A pillar' but those nearer to the center was gone!!! Definitely better than before...

This was done before 'Chinese New Year' and you  know what happened two months later??? It begin to crack again... No choice but to replace the whole windscreen as the crack span more than half the length of the windscreen!!! So based on my experience, if your crack is small/short, faster get it done and you can basically forget about repairing those crack which is longer than four inches long!!! Not worth the money spend because most probably it will start cracking again just like what is happening to us!!! And now I know why I usually don't win when I gamble, cause I sucks at it!!!

Is time to change the brake pad for my 'Peugeot 308 Turbo' again!!! Front brake pad can last only around 40,000++km and the rear pad can last up till around 80,000++km!!! This is the fastest wearing brake pad car that I've ever drove... Not forgetting the disc rotor!!! The front need replacement real soon...

This time round, I didn't opt to use back original brake pad from 'Peugeot'... Since the original one wears out easily, I decided to give some other brand a try and not forgetting saving some hard earned cash as well... 'Valeo' is one of the biggest OE manufacturer around so I presume that the quality is on par with the original one... 

After bedding in the brake pad, I'm amaze with the stopping power from the new 'Valeo' brake pad... The brake quality is actually on par with the original one and the best part is both front and back 'Valeo' brake pad cost less than the front original brake pad alone!!! Crazy right but is true... The only drawback is the spongy feel of the brake pedal... But this occur even when I use the original brake pad... The only thing I can do to eliminate this is change to steel braided hose... But let's just wait till the warranty period is over!!! 

Finally!!! After all these months of torture, I'm happy to announce that our beloved 'Pug' is back to it's healthy state... No more 'Depollution System Faulty' error message and the engine check light is off for good!!!

But how long can this last??? This is the BIG question that keeps lingering in my mind... This problem exist since June and this is an on and off kind of problem... Whenever we sent our car in for diagnosis, they managed to solve this problem... But after a while (the longest is around 1 week time), the problem came back and it is really frustrating... So I'm really keeping my finger cross and hopefully they solved the problem once and for all!!!

 Technician diagnosing our car... 

I can't remember how many turbo solenoid and dump valves they have change... At least 3 for each if I'm not mistaken... After sending our car in for two weeks, the technician can't seems to solve the problem as well... Before this, they have diagnosed the car and told me that the turbo is faulty and it need to be replace... I'm more than happy to hear this because judging from the turbo, it is indeed in a very bad state as I can see oil covering the turbo... So we took our car back and waited patiently for the turbo to arrive... 

Finally when the turbo arrived, we made an appointment and send our car in and I was greeted with all sorts of nonsense... The service advisor said they need to re-diagnose the car before they can start changing any parts... This is really stupid as they have all the records saying that our turbo is faulty... Why do they need to start doing this all over again... The first time they diagnose they change the dump valves but the problem still exist... Then they diagnose again and this time the error code shows that the turbo solenoid is faulty and they change the solenoid again!!! But still they can't solve the problem... 

So my darling cannot 'tahan' anymore and called them almost everyday talking from the service advisor to the manager in charge... In the end they decided to change the turbo as they believe that the turbo is indeed faulty!!! If they change it in the beginning, it will save us at least one and a half weeks of our time... But looking at the bright side, at least we got a new turbo and the irritating error message code is finally off!!! Luckily they managed to solve our car this time because I'm thinking of writing a complain letter to 'Peugeot France' and told them how incompetent 'Nasim' is!!! I guess this letter will have to wait!!! 

Recently I'm really frustrated with my cars... Both throwing tantrums at the very same time... I won't talk about FrankenBenz in this particular blog post... So obviously I'm going to concentrate on the 'Pug'... Quite frankly, the 'Pug' is really getting on my nerves and is driving me crazy!!! No doubt it is a very good car when you look at the asking price and the equipments thrown in... Besides that, there is nothing to complaint about the joy of driving it either... So what is driving me up the wall???

Three words!!! These three words is the root cause for all the trouble that we have been through and not forgetting about all the sleepless night (okok I'm exaggerating a little bit)... 'DEPOLLUTION SYSTEM FAULTY'... Isn't it good that the car tell us what is wrong with it??? It is really good in my opinion but please be specified 'Peugeot' because according to the service centre, those three words can mean a lot of things... It does not pin point to the exact problem...

I've sent my car to three different service center and three of them came out with different error code... One of them said it is because of vacuum hose... Another said there is problem with the turbo solenoid valve, turbo and timing chain!!! Can you believe it, timing chain??? Don't really make sense to me... Why I don't think the problem lies with the timing chain is because the car feels under power... This only happens when you drive the car for around 10-20 minutes... I suspect the main culprit is the turbine because you know it is not boosting... I can't even hear the dump valve/blowoff valve... Besides that, I can see that the turbo is leaking oil...

Last week I decided to sent my car to 'Glenmarie Blue Box' for second opinion after the dealer told me that the main problem lies with the timing chain... Before that, they told me they suspected turbo failure as well but need to do some further diagnosis to confirm... After that they said is because of timing chain... My darling's colleague also encounter the same error message and he sent the car to the same dealer that we went... And guess what, they told him exactly the same thing as they told us... Timing chain problem... I'm not buying it... Ok back to 'Glenmarie Blue Box'... After diagnosis they said the problem lies with the turbine and they need more time to take out the whole turbine before they can confirm it... So my darling is going to be carless next week as the car is schedule to admit next week (I'm carless this week!!!)... I'm really keeping my finger cross and hopefully they can settle our problem once and for all!!!

I'm having headache for these pass few weeks all thanks to our beloved cars... 'FrankenBenz' and 'Puggy' are giving me lots of problems recently... First was 'Puggy' which decided to have a flat battery again... After that, 'FrankenBenz' decided to throw tantrums and causes lots of headache for me... Temperature and gearbox are the main problem... And yesterday, 'Puggy' decided to throw something BIG at me... I was driving the car and suddenly I felt that the car lost a lot of power and simultaneously an error code came out... 'Depollution System Failure'... WTF was that??? So we decided to stop the car and took out the service manual and started searching for the error code... But we can't find anything and I decided to call 'Peugeot Service Care Line' and they told us that we should send the car in for a computerize diagnosis... So we got no choice but to send it in today... Seems like the turbine solenoid valve was the culprit... No wonder the car lost a lot of power... Now we are still waiting for the parts and it will only be available in a few days time so we got no choice but to drive the car in limp mode... As for 'FrankenBenz', overheating and gearbox problems still exist... Still can't determine the exact culprit for the time being!!! Problems, problems, problems!!!

Not again!!! Another battery problem it seems... The first time it happened when the car clock around 20,000++ km... Now the car mileage is around 60,000++ km and the battery is having problem again... This is the first time in my motoring life that I've encounter something like this... All my previous car have not been tow before... Not even once... But the 'Peugeot 308 Turbo' has been tow twice... Please I don't wish for a hat trick!!!

I'm really confuse to why can't the battery last a little bit longer??? I ask the technician from 'Peugeot' and they told me that the car have a lot of electronics, so obviously it consume a lot of battery... A modern 'BMW' or 'Mercedes Benz' have a lot of electronics too... But why their battery can last much longer compare to the 'Peugeot'??? My previous car battery last a staggering three years while the 'Peugeot' one last less than a year!!! We own the car for one year plus and this is the third batteries including the one that came with the car...

Those of you who drive the same car, please make sure that you ask the service advisor to get your battery check before your car reaches one year old because the warranty coverage for battery is only one year according to 'Peugeot'... I'm keeping my finger cross and hopefully this new battery can last at least a year!!!

p.s. Although I'm really frustrated with it, I'm still very much in love with our 'Pug'!!!

I'm those who likes to try new things... So this applies to car tyres as well... I must admit that the tyres that came with the '308 Turbo' is just plain awesome (this is the first time that I decided not to change to other brand when I'm changing new tyres for my car...) The 'Continental Sport Contact 3' is so good that even 'Porsche' is using it for its car... So do you think that it is an overkill to use it on the '308 Turbo' with it's puny little engine??? Frankly speaking, I don't think so...

But there is one major problem with this tyres... It is so goddamn freaking expensive!!! (so I'm force to change to another brand!!!) Do you know how much does it cost for a 'Continental Sport Contact 3' with the tyre size of 225/45 R17??? A mind boggling RM8xx plus plus!!!

So here comes the savior... 'Bridgestone Potenza RE001 Adrenalin'... I heard a lot of good reviews regarding this tyres and the price is much more affordable compare to the 'Continental Sport Contact 3'... So automatically this is the obvious choice... Actually I'm thinking between this tyres and the 'Yokohama Advan Neovo AD08' but too bad they don't have stock for the 'Yokohama'... In fact, I like the tyre thread on the 'Bridgestone more than the 'Continental'... It looks much more aggressive to me... Looks like a proper sports tyre unlike the 'Continental' that looks so docile... Will update on the tyre once I crank up some miles with it and by the way this tyre cost me RM5xx plus plus for a piece, which is still very expensive to me!!!

Is been a long time since I last updated on my darling's beloved feline or 'Pug'... The car is with us for more than a year now and everything is great except some minor niggles here and there... The first problem that we encounter is a very small problem... The problem is the autolock function somehow got disable and it just refuse to autolock...

The second problem is something of a shock to me as this problem usually occurs to high mileage vehicles but we got it before the odometer manage to clock in 10,000km!!! Guess we are really unlucky... The problem is with the wheel bearing... But luckily the car is still under warranty and the service center happily change it for me... Free of course and I left a happy man once again!!!

After that, we encounter another problem... A flat battery on a car clocking only around 20,000km ++... This is something new to me as well because through out my driving days, I've yet to encounter problem such as this because normally battery can last at least a year before they started giving up on you... But from what I know, this is a very common problem with the 'Peugeot 308'... So potential owner take note on this... Before your car hit 20,000km, get your car diagnose by Peugeot service center as the warranty for battery is only 20,000km only... Meaning they won't replace for free and after that you are on your own and the original battery is very costly to replace...

Few months ago, I found out that the car lacks power and is hard to drive it smoothly anymore... This particular problem have been dragging on for months as I kept sending my car for diagnostic and they told me that there is nothing wrong with it... But the more I drive, the more frustrated I became... So I decided to call the head mechanic and told him my problems... Schedule a date and off my car went for another round of diagnose... Again the answer is the same... Nothing wrong with it BUT the head mechanic found out that there is a leak in one of the vacuum hose and it replace the hose... Guess what problem solve!!! Now my car is smoother to drive and I'm enjoying every single minute of it!!!

My poor Pug... Mileage only around 20k ++ and she need to succumb to this!!!

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This happened to my darling yesterday when she went for lunch with her colleagues... At first they suspected that the poor Pug got a dead battery and ask a nearby workshop to clarify it... The foreman opened the bonnet and said that the battery was dead but they dare not jump start the car because of all the electronics and told us to tow the car to the service center...

Once there, the technician took a device and connected it to the battery... 'BAD CELL... REPLACE'... So we can confirmed that the battery was indeed DEAD!!! The mileage is only 20k++ and the battery is dead!!! OMG!!!

A word of caution to all 308 owner be it VTi or Turbo... Please ask the technician to check on your battery once your mileage reach around 20k... I was told that after 20k, the warranty does not cover the battery and the battery itself cost more than RM700++!!! So better be safe than sorry... Besides the battery, remember to take care of your tire also because it cost around RM750 per piece!!!

Sent the feline for its 20,000km service yesterday... So far, we are really happy with the car... No major problem until recently... There is some sound coming from the front driver side tyre... It sounds like a faulty wheel bearing and I'm so right... But I'm really shock because the car just register 20,000km ++ on the odometer and the wheel bearing is gone!!! Hmm I guess we are really unlucky... At least it is still under warranty... Still waiting for the bearing though... But this problem doesn't stop me from recommending this car to others because it is still one of the best value for $$$ car that you can buy right now... By looking at the amount of 308 on the road, I'm very sure that a lot of people agrees with me... Peugeot 308 Turbo ROCKS!!!

A lot of people said that the 308 Turbo was a very small car when they first looked at it... But in my opinion, it was a huge car... Just that it was not as long as other saloon because the 308 Turbo was a hatchback... The 308 Turbo was so much wider compare to my Gen2... It was also wider compare to a lot of cars... Cars such as Merc C Class, Proton Perdana just to name a few... These car were not small but in comparison, the 308 Turbo was actually wider than them... As for interior space, the front occupant can really sit like a king... As for the rear, I consider it as spacious but definitely not Merc S Class or BMW 7 Series category... Nevertheless, it was a BIG car...

EP6DT Engine...

'Prince' is the codename for a family of modern automobiles straight-4 or inline-4 engines jointly developed by BMW and PSA Peugeot Citreon... It is a compact family engine of 1.4 - 1.6 litre in displacement and includes most modern features including gasoline direct injection and variable valve timing...

Tested my darling's 308 Turbo just now... I'm really impressed with the acceleration... If the car was much lighter, the acceleration would be so much better... As for now, I considered it as brisk but certainly not fast but nevertheless it was so much better compared to my car... Don't really have to think much when overtaking slower cars... Just step on the gas and the car just piled up speed effortlessly... That's the benefit of a turbocharger... No crazy revving like a NA car (But sometimes I do enjoy revving the nuts out)... I didn't notice any turbo lag in this car... Unlike older generation of turbocharged engine where you need to wait for the boost to arrive...

Okay performance wise, I've got no complain... Handling wise, I still think my car outperform the 308 Turbo... I will find one weekend and head up to Genting and find out how it performs...

Still remember my previous post with the 'Coming Soon' title??? Here, this is it...

Price at RM113,888 OTR, in my opinion the Peugeot 308 Turbo is the best value for $$$ car around... This baby comes with 6 airbags, a full Panaromic Glass roof, 17" alloys, dual zone climate control, rear aircon vent and not forgetting the awesome 1.6 litre turbocharged engine... This engine is the same as those use in BMW Mini Cooper S... But too bad, Peugeot decided to detune it... Mini Cooper S comes with 175bhp while Peugeot 308 Turbo comes with 140bhp... But the torque figure is exactly the same... 240Nm!!! Peak torque arrives at a freakingly low 1400rpm...

My first impression is the car is really powerful comparing to my Gen2 MME... You can really feel the pulling power (I know you can't compare turbocharged cars with NA, is like comparing apples to oranges... But too bad, I don't have other cars to compare with)... Till now I still don't have the chance to fully test out the power as the mileage of this car is still very very low... Maybe in a few more days I will try to have a blast in this car... But you can definitely feel the G force when you accelerate...

The only downside I find so far is the kerb weight of this car... This car is heavy... If not mistaken is more than 1400kg... You can really feel the mass when you corner... Feeling the weight shifting from left to right or vice versa... Handling wise, I think it lose out to my Gen2 MME...

More to come...